Next of Kin - Queen Takes Pawn
by DKGWrites
Summary: This is a prequel to the first book in the Next of Kin series. If you have not read Next of Kin, do not read this. This includes spoilers for that series. This is meant to fill in some of the backstory for those who have already read the book.


_This fic is a prequel to the first book in the Next of Kin series. If you haven't read that yet please do not continue. This contains spoliers. If you're read NoK, well, here's the first of several short pieces of some backstory I plan to post. I hope it helps to flesh out some of these characters and fill in some questions for you all. As always, thank you so much for reading and for your lovely comments. This community is lovely. I can't thank you enough for joining me here and keeping me motivated. – D.G._

It was the summer of 2011, the last day of the school year at MIT. Lena smiled as she walked briskly down the hallway and hurried to her dorm room. In jeans and a maroon t-shirt, block letters spelling out MIT with the school crest and the 'EST. 1861' across the front, she expertly wove her way between other students also eager to back it back to their dorm rooms and then home for the summer. Her dark ponytail bounced with her unusual eagerness due to her morning's destination. She'd only reached the door when a voice stopped her.

"Lena, hey, Lena!"

Turning, Lena's smile grew when she saw her friend jog down the hall toward her. He was all arms and legs; his curly brown hair hung shaggily over his eyes in its usual unkempt way. His button-down shirt half-stuck out of his tan slacks, and his belt end flopped about from his too thin waist. As other kids moved to and fro in an attempt to make it to their rooms, the boy slid awkwardly between them as he seemed always to be fighting against the flow of traffic like a salmon swimming upstream. Still, his eyes were bright as they peeked between the strands, and his smile even brighter as he rather breathlessly reached his friend.

Hand on his center as he bent over and gasped for air, the boy stood and used his other hand to flip back the hair that covered his eyes in a slightly sheepdog fashion. "Hey, didn't you hear me calling you across the quad?"

Slowly raising an eyebrow, Lena replied, "Everett, do you really think I stop every time some boy yells my name across the quad?"

Blushing slightly, Everett said, "You know, it's hard for a guy to think of you as just a friend when you smile like that and do that eyebrow thing."

Reaching up several inches, Lena patted his cheek. "And yet you manage it. Aren't you a strong young man." She shifted the books in her arms to one as she fished the keys out of her pocket.

"Here, let me help you."

"Thanks." Lena handed over her books and unlocked her door, heading inside.

Trailing behind and closing the door behind him, Everett looked around the room. Lena had a single dorm, a rarity, but she could afford it. She'd made few acquaintances even fewer friends during her time at college, her age difference with the other students, financial disparity, and self-imposed desire at privacy making it so. Everett was one of the few who had broken through. They'd been in many of the same math and engineering classes from the beginning, and he was one of a select number who could hope to keep up with her even if still trailing behind a bit though a few years older. In their freshman year, when the then fifteen-year-old Luthor had dubbed Everett 'not wholly annoying like most of the students' Everett had laughed out loud and pulled Lena into an enthusiastic hug. Stiff in his arms, Lena had sputtered like she didn't even know what a hug was as if it was some kind of attack. When he only stepped back, smiling still as she blinked in confusion, it was an icebreaker that was the start of their friendship three years earlier.

"Looks like you're all packed up," Everett commented as he gestured around to all of the boxes stacked about neatly. He placed Lena's books down on top of the many boxes.

"Not quite," Lena replied as she unslung her backpack. "I figure I have maybe another thirty minutes, another hour tops to go, and then I should be all set."

"Good, then you can join us down at the Muddy Charles for drinks. Folks are waiting down at the bar already. Come on."

"I'm too young to drink," Lena replied with a sly smile.

"Yet you have an ID that says otherwise, and you still can drink most of the seniors here under the table." Everett rested against Lena's desk, his brown eyes knowing. "How is that?"

"Genetics? It's a Luthor thing."

"You're adopted."

She smacked at his butt until he got off her desk with some easy laughter as she said, "Okay, then it's a Lena thing."

"So that's a yes to drinks?"

"That's an 'I'm still packing' to drinks. Honestly, Everett, for a reasonably bright boy, you're not a good listener. How will you ever get your Master's Degree?"

Everett shrugged. "Maybe I won't."

"Don't joke like that. Your sister would be crushed. You know she hangs the moon on you and your education. Apparently, you're the family genius."

Laughing again, he replied, "Wow, what a bunch of dullards we must be. Seriously though, Lena, you can pack tomorrow. Come out for drinks with your friends. It's the summer." He took her hand and gently pulled her by the arm trying to lead her back to the door.

Smiling, she shook her head. "I can't. My plane leaves at 5:30 in the morning. I need to be at the airport by 4:00, so I need to finish pack tonight."

"Boooo," he mocked. "You charter a plane. Why would someone in their right mind charter a plane and leave so early in the morning?"

"Because the flight to Switzerland takes eight hours. I almost left tonight, but I wanted to see a few people and—"

"So if it's an eight-hour flight and you leave at 5:30 in the morning, then you'll get there—"

"Six-hour time difference," she reminded him.

With an eye roll, he grinned sheepishly. "Right, right. Okay, you'll be there at 7:30 at night."

"Oh my God!" Lena grabbed Everett's shoulders and feigned surprise. "Everett, you can do math. Perhaps you should consider doing something with that, maybe something in analytics or…or engineering!"

"Ugh. Bitch."

Lena snapped her fingers. "Pick of the litter."

"What's so enticing about Switzerland?"

Instead of replying, she grabbed a gadget off the shelf and swaddled it in bubble wrap.

"Come on. What's his name, huh?" He elbowed her with a bit too much enthusiasm, nearly causing her to drop what she was holding. "What's his name?"

Shaking her head, she crooked an eyebrow again but didn't make eye contact. "Who said it's a he?"

"Oh, ho, ho! Pictures. Pictures or it didn't happen."

She just shook her head, otherwise unresponsive.

"Okay, fine. So, after you finish packing then you'll join us for drinks?"

"Everett—"

"One drink, Lena."

Lena scoffed. "Right. When have we ever stopped at one drink?"

He laughed. "So I'll see you in a half-an-hour?"

She put the wrapped item into the box. "It could take me an hour to—"

Grabbing her, he hugged the girl quickly. "Okay, but if you aren't there in an hour, I'm sending my sister to come and get you."

"I didn't agree."

Walking backward toward the door, Everett waved. "You can explain that to Kalia when she comes hunting you."

"She doesn't hunt."

He nodded. "Yes, she does. She's like a Special Forces secret agent or something, and she's going to come and get you, so you better show up."

"She's a nurse in the Marines, doofus!" Lena laughed.

Everett shrugged, then turned, opening the door to leave. As he did, a padded envelope that had been leaning against the door fell in. He picked it up, seeing Lena's name scrawled on the front in black marker. Turning, he said, "Hey, think fast," and tossed it at the girl.

She barely caught it as it bounced off of her chest. "What the…! Easy there!"

"Good reflexes. Perhaps you should consider doing something with that, maybe something in analytics or…or engineering!" Laughing, he left the room.

"Doofus!" She yelled after him as she laughed in reply.

Lena glanced at the envelope before dropping it on her desk and returning to her packing. It was about forty-five minutes later when she was pretty much done, her dorm room needing nothing but a quick vacuuming and then it would be left to the movers when she grabbed a sparkling water from the fridge and sat down. She picked up the enveloped she'd tossed on the desk before, flipping it over to check it more carefully. There was no return address or name anywhere, and her name was just handwritten, so she just shrugged and pulled the tape away. As she reached in to pull out the letter inside, pictures came spilling into her lap and something small, black and wooden.

Several of the pictures hit the ground, and she bent over to pick them up. She was smiling, expecting they were from some class project or competition they'd won, but the smile fell off her face, and she froze still half bent over. Her heart was pounding, and her breath came in ragged gasps as she slowly sat back, ill-prepared for what lay before her. Mind racing, she hurriedly flipped through the photos seeing they were mostly the same, all several days apart. She tossed them and the black piece on the desk, opening the letter and reading it quickly. Falling back in her chair again, tears streamed down her cheeks. It wasn't the worst possible thing she could have read, not what she originally had feared, but it was close.

After several unanswered texts from Everett to Lena, Kalia had headed down to the girl's dorm room. Usually, the young Luthor would get lost in a project or research, and someone would have to drag her out to remind her that socializing was important too. Nourish the mind, nourish the body, nourish the heart was the Campbell motto and both Kalia and Everett Campbell would remind Lena that she seemed only to be capable of taking care of two of those and good at excelling at one of them.

Reaching Lena's door, Kalia grinned and knocked. "Hey, Princess, it's me. You get crushed under a pile of books or just get lost in your own thoughts? The boy is making sad puppy dog eyes under that mop of hair of his and sent me to quote 'hunt you down' end quote. So, why don't you just come quietly?" Smiling, Kalia waited for about half a minute, then knocked again. She thought she heard some shuffling inside. "Princess? You in there Lena?"

"Um…yes."

"You all right in there?"

"Actually, I'm not feeling terribly well. Please give Everett my regrets."

The smile had long left Kalia's face, but a heavy crease was now set in between her brows. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing…well, a touch of flu perhaps. I'm just going to lie down until I have to leave in the morning. Good night."

There was silence, so Kalia knocked again. "Lena, what's going on?"

"Goodnight, Kalia."

"Bullshit," Kalia grumbled. "Hey, kiddo, let me in. I'm a nurse, remember?"

"Oh, um…I'll be fine. It will pass."

Jiggling the handle, Kalia found the door locked. "You should let someone check you out. Lena? Hey, Lena?" She knocked again, but there was no response. As she quietly muttered, she pulled a thin black case, maybe six inches long, from an inside pocket and unzipped it. "Something's wrong. If it's that bitch mother of yours, I'm going to shove my boot up her ass. Your brother hasn't been much better, lately. What the fuck is wrong with that family of yours?"

When the door opened, Lena turned in her chair, a look of surprise added to her red-rimmed eyes. "How did you…?"

Sliding the two picks back into her case and zippering it closed, Kalia put it away and closed and locked the door again. "Okay, you're not sick. What's going on?"

"I told you. I don't feel well, and that's breaking and entering."

"Just entering," Kalia clarified. "Is it your mother? What did she do this time?"

"Nothing she…" Lena shook her head.

"Okay, so it's that asshole of a brother of yours? It's Lex?"

"No," Lena said to her hands.

"You're telling me this isn't about your family?"

Lena lifted her head, making brief eye contact, then looked down again.

Arms crossed, Kalia stood over Lena. "Come on, Princess, out with it. Outside of this place and your family, you have no life. You go to school, go home when you're made to do so, and you don't do anything else but…"

Slowly, Lena lifted her head. When she saw the look on Kalia's face, her eyes widened, and she shook her head.

"Right, so what's her name?" Kalia asked.

"What? Who?"

"The girl you're seeing in Switzerland. You're being blackmailed over her, right?"

"I…what…no. What are you talking about?"

"Kid." Kalia pulled up a chair. "I've seen blackmail before, and this is it. A kid your age, I figure it's either school, but you wouldn't cheat, or personal. You keep disappearing back to where you went to boarding school…with a bunch of girls. You won't give any boy here the time of day. It's pretty obvious that you're seeing someone. Who found out about it? Do they want money?"

"God, I wish it were that simple," Lena said.

"Being blackmailed because you're gay is simple?"

"Comparatively?" Lena nodded.

"I…" Kalia paused, considering her next words. "Look, I think we're having two different conversations here. Why don't you help me to understand what's going on so I can help you? You know I want to help, right?"

"Kalia, I'm certain you do, but wanting and having the capacity to help me are two different things. Right now the best thing you can do is just go back and enjoy the evening with your brother. I'll…I'll sort this out on my own."

"Hey, you're not on your own. Stop trying to push people away just because of your family. You know, one of these days someone is going to walk into your life, someone amazing, and you're going to be so busy putting up barriers that you won't even be able to see them over these walls your building."

"I…" Lena nodded. "It feels safer."

"Fine, but just put in a door or at least a window, okay kid? I'm not saying not to protect yourself, but learn to recognize the people you should let in and give them access."

Lena dropped her face again. "I'm not very good at…that."

A finger under Lena's chin, Kalia raised the girl's face and replied, "Get better."

Lena nodded, then reached across her desk and grabbed the envelope that lay there. She held it out to Kalia but didn't release it. "You can't tell anyone about this."

With a single nod in response, Kalia took the envelope. Ignoring the pictures, for now, she pulled out the letter, and read it aloud.

 _"_ _Miss Luthor,_

 _We've been watching you for some time. You're a remarkable young woman who would be a great addition to our organization both for your own skills and your family's influence and connections. As you've countered every move of ours to date, allow us this next gambit. Please look at the pictures we've included. You wouldn't want the world, or even your own family, to find out about her existence. We can make sure that doesn't happen, or we can make sure it does. Think about your next move very carefully. It's too bad she's become a pawn in this, but that decision was ultimately yours. Stay in your room, and someone will come to contact you. Then the next move will be yours. Choose it carefully."_

Frowning deeply, Kalia tilted the envelope until the pictures spilled out into her hand. She shuffled through them, puzzlement evident upon her face. Finally, she held up one and said, "I don't get it. Who is this?"

With a heavy sigh, Lena admitted, "That's Lorelai. She's my…daughter."

"Your…" Turning the photo of the young girl over to face her again, Kalia shook her head. "No, she must be what, four?"

"Five," Lena informed Kalia, holding the other woman's gaze when brown eyes stared into green. "Lori is five years old."

"Lena, that's impossible because you're…" Kalia swallowed hard pushing away the rest of the words and the realization that came with them, instead saying, "Your mom doesn't know about her."

"Not yet."

"And her father, how—?"

Head shaking quickly, Lena trembled.

"Hey, it's okay. It's going to be okay," Kalia promised.

"How? Someone knows about her, knows who she is and where she is. I have no choice but to do whatever they want or word of her will get out. My family will be disgraced, and worse yet, her…" Lena closed her eyes, almost suppressing a shudder. "Her father will find out about her. I should have just given her up for adoption, but I—" She opened her eyes, seeing a hand on hers.

"Forget about should haves, we deal with what we have ahead of us. Right now, let me find a way to help you." Kalia tossed the pictures, envelope, and letter on the table, looking back at Lena but then turning quickly to the table again when she noticed something she'd knocked over in her haste. She picked up the black figure and turned it over in her hand.

"What is it?" Lena asked.

Holding out the chess pawn, Kalia asked, "This was in the envelope, wasn't it?"

"Well yes but—"

"Motherfuckers!" Kalia screamed as she stood, throwing the pawn across the room and bouncing it off the wall. Mouth a tight line, she breathed through flared nostrils for several moments. "Sorry, I'm sorry, kiddo."

Lena sat pressed back into her chair. "What the fuck was that about?"

Nodding, Kalia said, "Do you trust me?"

"Of course, I do Kalia, but—"

Dropping down to her knees, Kalia took both of Lena's hands in hers. "No buts. Do you trust me? I need your unconditional trust and loyalty here, Princess, if I'm going to save you and that kid of yours. Do I have it?"

"You can protect her? I don't understand how—"

"I can protect her."

Lena opened her mouth, thinking for a moment, then asked, "Is this going to hurt my family?"

"Your family?"

"My mother and my brother. I don't want them hurt."

"That mother of yours doesn't give a fuck about you."

"Perhaps," Lena agreed. "But she's my mother. She's the only one I have, and I care about her. Maybe one day that will be enough."

A hand to Lena's cheek, Kalia said, "You're too good for that family of yours, Princess. Fine, your kid, mother, and brother, you're all a package deal. We take care of our own."

"We?" There was no response, so nodding, Lena said, "If you can protect my family, then you can have anything from me you want. I trust you, Kalia."

"I have to make a phone call, then. I have to tell people…" Kalia held up a finger when Lena stiffened. "But, they report to me, and they won't use this to hurt you or your family. This won't get out, okay?"

With the tiniest hesitation, Lena nodded.

As she stood, Kalia pulled out her cellphone. "I can't protect your brother from himself. He's getting into some dangerous crap."

"Lex is all right."

Looking sideways at Lena, Kalia made a call. "It's me. I need a secure line. Password is Milner Barry Gambit." She waited for a few seconds. "Thank you. Put me through to Ahmed Samarran." Looking over at Lena, Kalia gave a reassuring smile while she waited for her call to be answered. "Ahmed! It's Kalia. We have an urgent situation. I'm making a white pawn and…no. Ahmed, no. I'm doing it right now." She nodded briefly. "Of course, I'm familiar with the process. Remember who you're talking to here. Black has moved on a prospect who…okay, not exactly a prospect. They're blackmailing a kid, who just turned eighteen, into joining up. We don't have time to convene the back of the board and meet on this. We need to use royal override and…yeah…yeah but…Ahmed, just listen for a minute! It's Lena Luthor." Smiling, Kalia said, "Yeah, I'll wait while you grab her file." There was a knock at the door, and Kalia looked at Lena and asked, "Are you expecting anyone?"

Lena shook her head then slowly pulled the letter from the desk and held it up.

"Right." Handing Lena the phone, Kalia said, "Talk to Ahmed when he comes back. He's a nice man. It will be fine."

"Where are you going?"

Stopping with her hand on the doorknob, Kalia replied, "I'm going to tell whoever that is that you gave at the office." Kalia opened the door to reveal two men each about a foot taller than her. As they made to move toward her, she stepped toward them and closed the door quickly behind her, closing Lena in the room alone.

"Kalia, I have the file," the voice on the other side of the phone said to Lena. "Okay, this is who I thought it was. I thought you said she was off limits no matter what?"

"Um…Kalia had to step out of the room. She handed me the phone."

"Who is this?"

"My name is Lena, Lena Luthor."

"Oh, hello, Lena," the man on the other side of the line said, a smile in his voice. "My name is Ahmed. It's a pleasure to speak with you. So, Kalia has said you might be interested in working with us."

"Well, I…" There was some grunting and a thud outside her door. "Kalia, are you all right!?"

"Lena, what's going on?" Ahmed asked.

"Kalia is in the hallway with two men. I think there may be fighting."

"Just two men?" Ahmed laughed. "Dear, don't worry. So, you were saying?"

"Maybe I should call the police and—"

"No, no. The police have important things, criminal things, with which to concern themselves. Kalia can handle this little nuisance. So, I've read your file. You're certainly a bright girl, impressive test scores and research work, interesting lineage. You have everything going for you. All you need is friends."

"I've never really needed friends. I like school."

"Yes, I have a copy of your school records. You're exceptional."

"How do you have a copy of my school records? Are you with the school?"

There was another grunt from the hallway.

Ahmed laughed. "Certainly, let's say I'm with the school. I definitely work at an institution of higher learning. So, are you planning to go into the family business when you graduate?"

"I…"

There was a thud in the hallway, and Lena found herself distracted.

"Lena?" Ahmed asked.

"I'm sorry, something in the hallway is—"

"When you graduate, what are your plans?"

"Oh, well, post-graduate work I suppose. What else would I do?"

"What else indeed," he said with obvious mirth in his voice. "Any school in particular?"

"I…there are some good ones in Europe."

"There are indeed. Do you like to travel?"

"Well, a bit. I'm actually not all that fond of flying. Statistically, I know it's—" One of the men came crashing through the door, breaking the lock and landing unconscious on the floor. "Oh, my God! Oh, my God!"

"What's wrong!?"

"I…he…"

Seconds later, the other man fell unconscious to the floor in the hallway. Kalia stepped over the man in the hallway, making her way to the other man and grabbing his arms. "Ooof. He's a big boy. Hey, Princess, put Ahmed on speaker phone and come help me with these two, would you? They go down easy, but they're heavy SOBs."

"I…I…I…"

Letting go of the man, Kalia walked over and snapped three times in Lena's face. "Hey, don't check out on me, Princess. You still in there?"

"Uhhh…" After several moments of stunned silence, Lena nodded.

"Good." Walking back to the closer downed man, Kalia began to tug him further into the room. "Speakerphone and help me here."

Lena put the phone onto speaker phone and went over to Kalia.

"Grab under his arms and help me drag him, okay?"

"O-O-Okay."

"Kalia, is everything all right?" Ahmed asked.

"Fine, Ahmed. Lena, do you have any zip ties?"

"Why would I have, ugh, zip ties? Why do you need zip ties? What the hell is going on?" Lena asked even as she struggled to help drag the man further into the room.

"Duct tape. Get me a roll of duct tape," Kalia instructed as she headed into the hallway to grab the second man's ankles. "Ahmed, I think they just sent pawns to collect the kid. No problems here. I'll message the black side once we've left, so they know where to pick up their people."

"Pawns?" Ahmed laughed. "Oh, how awful for them. I hope you didn't hurt them too badly."

"They'll live." As Lena grabbed an ankle and helped pull the other man into the room, Kalia smiled at her, then asked, "Ahmed, did you read Lena's file?"

"I brushed up on it, yes. I've read it before."

"And?" They pulled the last man past the door's threshold, and Kalia said, "Close the door, kid. Where's that tape?"

"The box," Lena said, pointing behind Kalia even as she looked into the hallway, scanning up and down it to see if they'd been observed before closing the door.

"Kalia, I tried to convince you to recruit her two years ago, and you told me to do something that was anatomically impossible. What's changed?"

"Circumstances," Kalia said as she rolled the first guy over, putting his hands behind him as she slid his jacket back so she could tape directly to his wrists. "So, are you in, Ahmed?"

"Oh, I'm in. Wait, any special stipulations?"

"We protect her family. The black side is threatening her family."

There was a pause. When Lena opened her mouth, Kalia held a finger up. Kalia continued to tape the first man's arms, then his ankles. Finally, she bent his knees and taped his ankles and wrists together.

Starting on the second man, she asked, "What's the holdup, Ahmed?"

"I'm trying to find anything on her mother or brother that would cause a conflict. Her brother is…a bit concerning. There's a lot of anti-alien rhetoric going on there. Does Lena know our stance on metas?"

"She doesn't know anything," Kalia replied. "She promised me her loyalty no questions if I protected her family. I said I couldn't protect them from themselves, but otherwise, we had a deal. You have any problems there?"

"We can't protect them from legal ramifications of their actions," Ahmed said.

Face heavily shaded with sadness, Lena nodded.

"She agrees." Kalia finished taping the second guy's wrists and started on his ankles. "Do you have my back on this? Can we make the offer official, or did I just assault two members of the black side?"

Ahmed laughed. "Well, now that's tempting, but no. No assault across the board. I assume you told them she was already claimed."

"I did."

"And they refused to leave?"

"Their knight sent them so…" Lena shrugged. "They didn't know who I was."

"They do now. Kalia, you have my support. The royalty is in agreement, and the rest of the board already wants her. This will rile up the black side. They're going to pitch a fit."

Tearing off the duct tape, Kalia patted the man's ankles as she stood. "Boo Hoo. Cry me a river. Fuckers are trying to screw with a teenage girl. If I can block every decent pick of theirs for so long as I'm in charge, I'll do it."

"You do like to make friends."

"And influence people," Kalia agreed. "Ahmed, thanks for this. You don't know how much this means to me."

"You can owe me one. Lena, welcome aboard."

"Thank you?" Lena replied.

"Goodbye, ladies," Ahmed said, disconnecting the call.

"What just happened?" Lena asked.

"Something better than what almost happened," Kalia said, putting her hands on Lena's shoulders. "I'm sorry you're in this situation. We're going to protect you and your family, though. You trust me, right?"

"I do."

"Good." Kalia grabbed her cellphone, sliding it back into her pocket. "Now come on. Let's go down to the Muddy Charles and get a drink. I could use one, and I bet you could too."

Grabbing her purse, Lena pointed at the pictures on the table. "Shouldn't we do something with those?"

"Nah, someone will take care of them."

Looking at the men on the floor as she headed toward the door, Lena asked, "What about them?"

"Don't worry about them. I'll call someone to come and get them too. You've got friends now. Things are covered."

Following Kalia into the hallway, Lena asked, "What if they get loose?"

Kalia laughed. "Princess, the two things I'm best at is beating guys up and trying them up afterward. They're not going anywhere."

"I thought you were a nurse."

"I am."

Head shaking, Lena said, "I'm so fucking confused."

Putting a hand on Lena's shoulder, Kalia squeezed it gently. "Hey, you know a guy named Jack Spheer, right?"

"Jack? We've met a few times. Our families know each other. Why?"

"Do you have his number?"

With a small laugh, Lena replied, "Oh, I'm certain I do. Jack's the right sort. It's been made available to me."

"Good. I want you to shoot him a text tonight. Nothing major, just say someone mentioned his name or something, and you thought of him. Tell him you hope he's doing well. Can you do that?"

"I can but why?"

Her smile weak, Kalia said, "He's working on some pretty interesting stuff, Princess. Are you familiar with nanotechnology?"

"Well, of course. Who isn't?"

"Who isn't." Kalia gave a slight laugh. "I'm surprised you weren't recruited when you blew out the candles on your eighteenth birthday cake. We need someone to make friends with Jack Spheer, someone he'll trust who'll understand the technology and be able to make sure that—" When Lena stopped walking, Kalia turned to her. "What is it?"

Stiff-backed, Lena said, "I'm not a corporate spy."

"No, of course not. This has nothing to do with that. I'll explain, but not in the middle of a hallway. We'll talk somewhere private, and I can help you understand how you'll be helping to keep your country safer."

"My…country?"

Kalia nodded, signaling to Lena until the girl began to walk again and then asked, "So, what do you know about meta-humans and the threat they can pose to the human population if not properly supervised?"

"Meta-humans?" Lena shook her head. "I don't understand."

"Come on. I'll give you a brief overview on the way, and then you can put some of that Luthor training into play tonight and pretend nothing is going on while you smile nicely at my brother and act like your life hasn't just turned 180 degrees, all right?"

"All right but…" Lena shook her head. "What does this have to do with Jack? I don't really know him all that well. I don't even know if he'll text me back."

Shaking her head, Kalia asked, "Is he straight?"

"I…think so?"

"He'll text you back."

With a staggering step, Lena said, "Kalia, I…no. Whatever you think Jack might want with me, no. I'm just not…eh…"

"Lena, breathe. All I want you to do is be friends with the boy, possibly work with him, that's all. You like the idea of working with biotechnology?"

"Yes, it's fascinating."

"Good answer. You report to me, and so long as that holds true, I'll keep you safe. Just be his friend, okay? You can do that?"

"I can do that," Lena agreed, visibly relaxing. "Jack and I have spent some time together at parties though not in several years. He's very bright. I do like him."

"Good, then this should be an easy assignment. You ready for that drink?"

"More than ready. I'm going to wear the plastic off my credit card and be so hung over by the morning."

"No to both. You have a plane to catch in the morning, but I need to be able to brief you later tonight, so stay sharp. Only two drinks?"

"Two drinks?" Lena mumbled, "This night just keeps getting fucking worse."

Laughing as they headed out into the night air, Kalia clapped the girl on the back. "The good news is I'm buying. Tonight is a business expense."

"You work for the government, don't you?"

Kalia shrugged and grinned.

"Then this is a business expense, and as a taxpayer, I'm still buying. I'm fucked over again."

Laughing even louder, Kalia said, "Keep that attitude, Princess. It will serve you well in the years to come."


End file.
